Congratulations! You made it! You survived and excelled in your student teaching. You are now a science teacher! If you would, take a few minutes to share your wisdom about how to negotiate this difficult year with the students who are following in your footsteps by answering the following questions.
a. What are some things students should do in their fall practicum to make their student teaching go more smoothly?
make sure you develop a good relationship with your cooperating teacher - go to your placement school as much as possible and try to get to know as many people as you can by observing multiple teachers, attending after-school events, and eating lunch with different groups of teachers
use this observation time as a valuable experience - pay attention to the small details, not just the big picture. Watch how your teachers start and end class and tune in to how they handle misbehavior in the classroom. These areas tend to to be the most difficult for student teachers, so use the time you have to observe how various teachers deal with these areas.
make sure you know your students' names and involve your self in the classroom as much as you can - the experience is helpful and it will make the transition into student teaching a lot easier if the students already know and feel comfortable with you and vice versa
b. What 430 topics/assignments should students make sure are addressed in detail to prepare them for student teaching?
The unit plan feels very overwhelming at the time, but it is important to do the best you can with it. Talk to your cooperating teacher and make sure the unit you plan is something you can actually use during student teaching. It is a lot of hard work, especially since you won't be used to writing so many lessons, but if you write a good unit plan that you can use, it will make student teaching go a lot smoother.
The assignment where we had to observe our cooperating teacher's movement throughout the room was very helpful because it is such a subtle tactic that you barely notice unless you look for it. I was really surprised to see how a teacher's movement and proximity to the students controlled student behavior and kept students' attention.
c. Help the next group of science education student teachers by completing the thought: "If I knew in September what I know now, I could have been better prepared for student teaching if I had ...."
If I had known in September what I know now, I would have spent a lot more time sleeping and hanging out with my friends because those are two activities that I pretty much never have time do do while student teaching!
If I had known in September what I know now, I could have been better prepared for student teaching if I had more clothing and didn't wait until the last minute to start developing a professional wardrobe.
If I had known in September what I know now, I would not have been so quiet around my students in the beginning. Once I became comfortable things went a lot smoother. If I had known then that my students were basically harmless, I wouldn't have been so nervous!
d. Are there other words of wisdom/encouragement that you want to share?
Act professional everyday. Show up early, leave late. Go above and beyond your required duties to make yourself stand out - you never know when a position will open up!
Sleep a lot. Live the life in the Fall, because you won't have one in the spring!
Enjoy every single day you get to spend at your school - if your experience is anything like mine, it may be the most helpful, exciting, and best experience you've ever had in college!
a. What are some things students should do in their fall practicum to make their student teaching go more smoothly?
b. What 430 topics/assignments should students make sure are addressed in detail to prepare them for student teaching?
c. Help the next group of science education student teachers by completing the thought: "If I knew in September what I know now, I could have been better prepared for student teaching if I had ...."
d. Are there other words of wisdom/encouragement that you want to share?